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FLOODPLAIN FORENSICS

Join some sleuthing Hamilton-area naturalists as they scour McMaster's west campus for evidence of the late Coldspring Valley.

This cold (spring) case dates back to 1964 when the Royal Botanical Gardens nature sanctuary was purchased by McMaster University to feed a projected parking demand for asphalt. McMaster's parking needs were overblown, and instead of 7,000 spaces they thought required by 1980, today they have just over half that number of spaces, 1,000 of these spaces empty at peak demand!

Intrepid Investigators will utilize historical records recounting the diverse plants species (written by the RBG's Conservationist in 1961), and utilize a 1959 trail map of system that existed there from 1958-1963.

Tracking the difference from 1963 to 2012 will provide insight into ways the valley could be brought back to life, repurposing some of the 1,000 empty spaces into the first phase of a restoration project being promoted by a group of McMaster professors from Engineering, Geography-Earth Science, Biology, Philosophy and Humanities.

We will meet at Lakelet Drive (Binkley Crescent at Lakelet) and be ready to begin at 6:00pm sharp. After an hour or so of investigating, we will return to Lakelet, with the option of retiring to The Phoenix pub at McMaster University's Refectory for debriefing and sharing of notes, photos, etc.

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We're going on a hike to introduce McMaster students (and any other interested participants) to this former RBG Coldspring Valley Nature Sanctuary and coldwater creek floodplain - currently a parking lot - to examine the past, present and future of this place that is undergoing an important ecological transformation.
Tour Leaders Dan Coleman (English Professor and author of Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place)Randy Kay (Restore Cootes)Judy Major-Girardin (School of the Arts)